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666: Matthew Smith

Matthew Smith was the Chair of the Genesee County Republicans. He made a threatening phone call to a Democratic county employee named Jennifer Kelly. He threatened to kill her dog. He said a friend was running against Kelly. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced under a program for youth that allows him to have nothing on his record when completed.

Genesee County GOP Chair Matthew Smith sentenced to community service under guilty plea
Mic Michign Now
Mid-Michigan Now
Judge Crawford has accepted Matthew Smith to Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, allowing him not to be convicted of a crime after pleading guilty to malicious use of telecommunication services.

RELATED LINK: Gen. Co. GOP Chair Matthew Smith pleads guilty to malicious use of telecommunication

According to court documents, in March of 2020, Smith allegedly called the Houghton County Clerk and threatened to poison her dogs.

Smith’s attorney Dennis Lazar says that his client has not been convicted of a crime, but will have to go through a probationary period under the judges guidelines for Smith to be applied to the HYTA.
Under the law of the HYTA,

"...the court of record having jurisdiction of the criminal offense may, without entering a judgment of conviction and with the consent of that individual, consider and assign that individual to the status of youthful trainee."

Therefore, by Judge Crawford's acceptance of the status, Smith is not convicted of a crime, but will have probationary stipulations.

Smith will have to pay fines and costs back to the court, do more than 200 hours of community service, and write 1,000 essay on the matter for Judge Crawford to read.

RELATED LINK: Allegations of fraudulent signature on recall petition for Davison school board member

It is unclear if that essay will be made public upon completion.
The Committee For School Board Integrity issues the following statement on Matthew Smith, who is also a Davison School Board member. It reads in part:

Judge Crawford said today that Matthew has to dig himself out of this hole. The parents of his district, who are exhausted with his nonsense, would like to again demand that he start by resigning from our children's school board so he can complete his cognitive awareness training, community service and his 1000 word essay on the impact of political bullying in America.

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